Pasadena Heritage Reports 1,400 Attendees at Craftsman Week

Pasadena Heritage reported that 1,400 people attended Craftsman Week, an Oct. 11-18 program that brought visitors to historic homes, studios and neighborhoods in Pasadena and nearby communities.

The eight-day event focused on the city’s Arts and Crafts architecture, with tours of private properties, preservation talks and demonstrations of traditional building crafts. In its Oct. 22 newsletter, the nonprofit said visitors included local residents and people who traveled from across the country.

One opening-day activity on Oct. 11 was a tour of the Duncan-Irwin House and its surrounding neighborhood. The house is an early Greene & Greene project dating to 1906. The following day, a separate presentation examined ongoing work to preserve and restore the property.

Visitors also went behind the scenes at Judson Studios, which produces stained glass. Another lecture examined Asian influences on Pasadena’s Craftsman architecture, while a woodworking program addressed the techniques involved in Greene & Greene restoration.

The week’s itinerary extended to Old California Fine Lighting & Home Goods, Mountain View Cemetery in Altadena and Pasadena’s Craftsman Heights neighborhood. Events at the privately owned Magic House and the Blacker House included tours and receptions. The Blacker House, designed by architects Charles and Henry Greene in 1907, was the subject of programs on its art glass and woodwork.

The Gamble House, another Greene & Greene landmark in Pasadena, presented related programming during the week. Its schedule included a free family day with the Pasadena Museum of History, tours focused on art glass and joinery, and a bicycle tour of the architects’ work around the city.

The final day, Oct. 18, included a Craftsman Heights walking tour and an open house at the Lanterman House in La Cañada Flintridge. Built in 1915, the Lanterman House retains original furnishings and uses reinforced-concrete construction.

Pasadena Heritage credited participating homeowners, businesses, partner organizations and volunteers with making the activities possible. The group said people who join or renew memberships by Oct. 31 will be entered in a drawing for a book about Bungalow Heaven and Craftsman Week items.

The nonprofit’s next scheduled program, “Enjoy the Sounds of the Sixties at the Blinn House,” is set for Thursday, Nov. 12, from 6:30 to 8:45 p.m. at 160 N. Oakland Ave. in Pasadena. The Next Doors are scheduled to perform folk music from the era.